More Cave Art

For the past several years I've been interested in graffiti. I've taken photos of it everywhere: NYC (no surprise there), Philadelphia (ditto), a piece of the Berlin Wall (again ditto), Melbourne, Australia and...here's the surprise...the Great Wall of China. That represents unrelated (more than likely) artists from four continents.

Granted the Great Wall wasn't spray painted...it was sgraffito. Well, sort of sgraffito. It was carved into the wall...still an unmistakable, anonymous, artful statement.

The two Cave Art pieces that I completed earlier, inspired by ancient cave artists, got me thinking about current "cave" artists...the urban canyons in cities around the world.

I had no problem coming up with a title for this one: Urban Canyon

Home again, Home again, Jiggity Jig

We have been to see Fallingwater, Frank Lloyd Wright's masterpiece IMHO. We rendezvoused with our CA buddies in Philadelphia and drove the many hours to Chalk Hill PA where we rented a cute 1970's A-frame in the woods for a few days. While there we were able to tour nearby Kentuck Knob, also a Frank Lloyd Wright home done in his Usonion style.

There's no doubt in my mind that Falling Water is just about the most beautiful work of his that I have seen. Granted, I've only toured five...but still...it's my favorite by a mile.

The following weekend we flew to St. Louis to reunion with my brothers et al. Yes, we were there for these most recent tornadoes. Sirens. Wind. Rain. More Sirens. Undaunted, we opted for indoor activities: St. Louis Museum of Art, bowling and two films....and LOTS of meals. We're the sort of family that likes to know where/when/what the next meal will be before we decide on dessert for the current one.

Obviously, not much work has been happening in my studio.

I did finish a piece that I can not decide what to title. It's inspired by a half yard piece of fabric designed by Yoshiko Jinzenji. I have hand quilted it quite densely.

Any suggestions?

Oh...and the other big news is that my self portrait was juried into The Guilford Art Center's next exhibit "Poser" ;-).

Not just for the birds

When I made this Redwing Chorus: Ode to Charley Harper, it wasn't just because I love birds. No, it was also because I always loved the work of Charley Harper.

I made this piece in 2008, shortly after I read in the New York Times that he had passed away. Re-visiting his artwork brought to mind all the times his work made me smile. All the cards I'd bought and sent to friends for birthdays, anniversaries or just plain "cheer up"...or chirp up...see, you smiled.

This is one of my "bird works" that I entered into The Brush Gallery's For the Birds exhibition (May 7-June 18). And I just found out that it was accepted!! Oh, boy, I love to visit The Brush and Lowell! There is SO much going on.

Returning to Work

This past week has been busy....interrupted by bouts of nodding off when jet lag wins the battle.

Before I left in February I had been working on a new project. I chucked the first trial in the bin before we left and pinned the second trial on the design wall to greet me when I returned.

Having had six weeks to think about it seemed to work. In fact, I had another idea entirely which went together very quickly. Maybe the time spent in gestation was beneficial.

First is a detail from Cave Art Sisters and the second a detail from Cave Art Chorus. This week someone told me that two is a pair and three is a series....hmmm...

Both are my exploration on cave art...an offshoot of my interest in tribal and indigenous art....like

this last piece Creative Spirit...which was from 2008 and was juried into The Yeiser Museum in Paducah the same year.

Last Postcard from Australia

Our last day in Australia was a beaut! The weather was one of those warm, dry, sunny days that make autumns in Victoria so memorable.

We started our morning saying good-bye to Geelong by having breakfast at the Sailor's Rest restaurant on the foreshore...a glorious farewell to our old home. Incidentally, we learned that the building was erected in 1913 and the electric lights atop were put up in 1926 and are now believed to be the oldest electric sign in Victoria, and, perhaps, Australia.

Next we drove to Port Melbourne to our new friend, and art quilter Geri Barr's home for a yummy lunch AND a preview of the Ozquilt Network exhibit, Australia Wide Two that will be on display at the Australasia Quilt Exhibit in Melbourne on April 14-17. Geri is the point person in Melbourne for the collection and will be responsible for hanging it. Pictured here are Geri's two contributions to the exhibit...along with the stack of others that I did not photograph, of course, but did view with great admiration. It's a wonderful collection!!

This last photo is a very generous (and greatly loved) gift from Dijanne Cevaal. After our return to Geelong she was able to meet us for dinner on Sunday AND she delighted me with a surprise package: four gorgeous pieces of fabric she had dyed along with an Artist Trading Card. Boy, life doesn't get better than this...especially for me.

We arrived home last night...the trip was very wearing but, thankfully, uneventful.

So, farewell to Victoria, Broome, Perth, Adelaide and all our friends...until next year. We have been offered two opportunities that may be hard to decline: a fortnight in a holiday house on the Mornington Peninsula and a fortnight of house-sitting (with a car) in a Melbourne suburb. Now, life REALLY doesn't get better than THAT!

Postcard from Geelong

Farewell, Geelong.

Yesterday was our last day here in Geelong where we lived many years ago. We've caught up with friends and seen the exhibits and venues we "needed" to.

The foreshore has been beautifully developed since we lived here: the swimming circle has been revamped, a boardwalk playground has been installed, many restaurants have popped up...several actually on the piers and public art installed. Our favorite artwork is the Bollards. These painted sculptures have become iconic for Geelong...there's even a pair at the Melbourne airport welcoming visitors to Geelong.

Yesterday we ate lunch in one of those foreshore restaurants, a very old building that had previously been a sailors rest. We then drove to nearby Serendip Wildlife where I snapped this photo of a group of school children...typical of school children here with uniforms and sun hats.

This last photo catches a lovely restaurant, Cunningham's, at the end of the pier, a set of Swimming Club Bollards and the You Yangs in the background (beyond the tall smokestacks from the Shell refinery). We drove to visit the You Yangs after we visited Serendip only to find out that the reserve had been closed due to the significant damage caused by recent rains. "You Yang" comes from the Aboriginal owners' description: Big mountain in the plain....very apt.

Our flight home leaves in 24 hours and we begin the horror that is our journey home. Watch out Heather et al, a very grumpy couple will be showing up Wed. evening.

Almost up to date

March 23 and 24 we took off to the North Central high lands of Victoria famous for gold, Ned Kelly, wheat and lamb until modern times when vineyards started sprouting up and truly wonderful reds were created.

Because I've had an anonymous request for more pics of Papa, I'm including this photo of our guides (Shelley and Graeme) and us at our last 2011 dinner together, celebrating with dinner and a wonderful bottle of shiraz.

Second photo is a life-sized wooden sculpting of local "hero" Ned Kelly: for what wikipedia says about him.

The towns we toured were charming...this photo fairly typical...although their names did not sound so very typical: Wangaratta, Benalla, Glenrowan, Wodonga, and Wahgunyah...fall trippingly from one's lip, no?